30 Day Meditation Challenge: Day 23

Monday December 28, 2009: I sat for meditation in the late evening. When I sat down and settled in, something in me resisted the idea of jumping right to a specific chakra meditation technique or mantra. So, I just sat. Without forcing or guiding my energy in any way, I could feel it begin to radiate upwards. It felt like it was traveling up the front of my body and spilling out like a fountain at the crown of my head. After a while, I felt a shift and the energy seemed to be concentrated at my heart center. Again, like a fountain, the energy seemed to rise up to my heart and then spill out and down like water. Earlier in the evening, I had taken the metro. Usually I have my iPod on and I’m kind of tuned out to the announcements on the train. But, I was making some notes about the yoga class I was going to teach so I didn’t have my headphones on. As the train pulled into the station, I could hear the train operator announcing the station. And then, in this great sort of warm, rich voice he said, ” Watch your step as you exit and remember, be patient, be courteous, be safe”. As I exited the train and moved into the rush of people, I kept thinking about his “mantra”. And as I rushed (impatiently) to get to my martial arts studio, I mentally repeated the words so I could remember them. After martial arts, I taught yoga and instead of ending with namaste, I shared the story of the train operator with my students and ended with his mantra. As I sat there in meditation, the train operators words returned to me. I sat for a long time with a calm body and a mind empty of everything except those words – “Be patient, be courteous, be safe”.